GSA highlights OASIS opportunities for small businesses

Jul. 24, 2013 - 10:59AM
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'If there is as much demand as we're hearing, this [OASIS] could take off,' says Jim Ghiloni, director of GSA's One Acquisition Solution for Integrated Services program. (Mike Morones/Staff)

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For contractors not selected for the General Services Administration’s new multibillion-dollar OASIS contract vehicle, program manager Jim Ghiloni has a message: Don’t give up.

With an expected value of up to $12 billion over 10 years, OASIS won’t freeze out those not initially selected nor are vendors initially selected guaranteed to remain throughout the program.

“This program is not going to lock down in 10 years,” Ghiloni told an industry gathering this month in Alexandria, Va. “There will be fluidity in the contractor pool over time. And if you’re not qualified when the [request for proposal] comes out, it doesn’t mean you’re locked out for 10 years.”

The contract vehicle has two parts: a full and open, unrestricted procurement, and a separate small-business set-aside known as OASIS SB.

Vendors in OASIS SB can graduate to the full and open contract vehicle if they outgrow the small-business size standards, but they’d have to meet minimum requirements.

GSA can also add contractors if the agency finds there’s not enough competition in any of the six service areas covered by OASIS. Companies are selected on the basis of several factors, including relevant experience.

“We’re very serious about on-ramps,” Ghiloni said in his remarks to the Multiple Award Government and Industry Conference.

The 10-year indefinite-delivery, indefinite-quantity contract has a value of about $12 billion, according to Deltek, a market research firm. Because OASIS will include cost-reimbursable contract types, the contract vehicle could help GSA win more business from the Defense Department, which has a preference for that type of contract.

In a recent interview with Federal Times, Shay Assad, the Pentagon’s director of pricing, said the Defense Department probably would do more business with GSA if there were more flexibility for cost-reimbursable contracts.

“There’s a role for GSA to play with us,” Assad said. “We’re after using the tools that provide the most value to the taxpayers and to our war fighters. And one of the things that we urged GSA to do is we would like to see some [federal supply] schedules established where we could utilize them for the procurement of services on a cost-reimbursable basis, as well as on a fixed-price basis.”

At one point in the procurement, agency officials asked for names for the larger OASIS contract and the small-business set-aside. GSA officials said at the time industry feedback suggests new names are needed because there is confusion between OASIS and OASIS SB.

In an online posting on the GSA website, Ghiloni asked for feedback after GSA narrowed the list to three possibilities: